Shovel-protector



(No Model.) J OMLOR.

SHOVBL PROTECTOR.

No; 449,568. Patented Mar. 31, 1891.

MMSMMM JOM/EOM@ NiTiD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. OMLOR, OF OASSELLA, OHIO.

SHOVEL-PROTECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 449,568, dated March 31, 1891. Appiimion tied August 25, 1890. seria No. 362,939. ou model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN T. OMLOR, a citi-v zen of the United States, residing at Cassell-a, in the county of Mercer and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Shovel-Proector, of Awhich the following is a specifica- .ion.

This invention has relation to protectors for shovels; and the objects in view are to provide a protector and strengthener combined adapted to be applied to the crowns of shovels at each side of the handles thereof and designed to strengthen the shovels at points adjacent to the handles, whereby the usual early splittin g of the shovels is avoided, to preserve the shoes of the operator or workman and prevent them from an early wearing out by reason of contact of the same with the usually sharp edges of the crown of the shovel, and, furthermore, to be so constructed as not to impede the insertion of the shovel when used as such and yet at the saine time adapt the same for use as a spade.

It is well known that shovels are usually employed for working in loose dirt, and that the same is inserted well into the same, sometimes atan incline and at other times substantially horizontal, while when used as spades, usually in hard or unbroken dirt, they are forced in by the foot of the operator. Shovels when thus subjected to such double use are soon ruined by reason of the light metal necessarily employed giving away under the foot of the operator, and heretofore when shovels have been provided with protectors or guards for ohviating such difliculties the eiiiciency of the shovel as such was impaired, for t-he reason that the sudden increase of metal at the upper edge of the shovel impeded or rendered difficult the insertion of the same into a bank of loose earth either in ahorizontal or inclined manner.

My invention has therefore the accomplishing of the first mentioned objects and the overcoming of the last-stated difficulties.

The invention therefore consists incertain features of construction hereinafter specified, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a perspective of a shovel provided with a protector constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail and perspective of one of the protectors. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same.

Like numerals indicate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

l designates the protector, and in my invention I prefer to employ two ofthe same. Each protector is perfectly formed by casting'and of malleable iron, and consists of an upper broad fiat portion 2, a front depending iiange 3, and a rear and narrower depending iiange 4, the two flanges and the top constitutingaU- shaped device adapted to be applied to the upper edge or crown portion of a shovel 5. The front depending flange or wall 3 is thin and is tapered from the base or tread 2 towardits lower end, so that said flange or wall gradually merges into the face of the shovel, and being so thin at the lower edge offers no obstruction to the dirt riding thereover when the shovel is being inserted. The rear wall or flange is not as long as the front wall or flange, and as it terminates in a lower thin edge its taper or bevel is more abrupt than that of the front wall or fiange. It will thus be seen that while the strength and dui-abit ity of the shovel are increased its efficiency is not in the least impaired, as the beveled strengthening-flanges, terminating as they do in sharp edges and forming a continuation of the back and front surfaces ofthe shovel, offer no obstruction to the insertion of the shovel into the dirt or any obstruction to the dirt riding thereover.

The protectors are curved to partake of or agree with the contour in cross-section of the shovels, and the groove 6 formed by the flanges is iiared at its inner ends 7, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the protectors may be slid endwise into position upon the crown portion at each side of the handle, the flared portions fitting` the swell or socket of the shovel-blade.

lhe rivet-holes 8 are formed in the fiange 3, and through the same pass rivets 9, said rivets passing on through the blade of the shovel, and thus securing the protectors in position.

The common fault with most shovels is that at a comparatively early date after the beginning of their utility a crack appears at one of the other sides of the blade at its crown portion, and in a very short time after the appearance of such crack the handle tears out,

rendering the tool useless. y my invention AI re-eni'orce the shovel-blades at their' weakest points, thus increasing materially their durability and period of usefulness. Furth ermore, objection is raised by workmen to the early wearing out of their shoe-soles by reason of Contact of their feet with the crown portions when Vin the act of forcing the blade into the soil. By my invention, wherein I provide the broad flat surface 2 free from sharp edges, I form a secure foot-bearing and one possessing the superior characteristics heretofore mentioned.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. As an article of manufacture, a protector attachment for shovels, the same formed in a single piece and consisting of an upper broad flat bearing-surface 2 and opposite front and rear terminals 3 and i, respectively, the lat ter shorter than the former, and each tapered upon its outer face `from the edge of the bcarilng-surface 2 to its lower edge and terminating in a sharp edge, said flanges being adapted to form continuous unbroken surfaces of the frontan d back of the shovel, substantially as specified.

2. A shovel the crown portion of which is provided at opposite sides of its handle with U-shaped protectors curved to fit the same and consisting of upper flat bearings? and front and rearanges 3 and 4, respectively,the former perforated and riveted to the blade, the flanges of each protector combining to form an intermediate recess gradually increasingin width toward its inner end to receive the swell of the blade, substantially as specied.

in testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed mysignature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN 'l. ONLOR. Witnesses:

FRED HUBER, JOHN Winry.. 

